Friday, September 25, 2009

Today we have not one, not two, but THREE guests with us whose latest books will be released in four days (Sept. 29th)! Please help me welcome authors Jenna Ives, Natasha Moore and Skylar Kade.

Jenna Ives lives in Southern California, and has the typical problem that affects a lot of modern authors – multiple personality disorder. She writes for several publishers under a variety of names, but mostly the reason is to keep her poor sainted mother (who used to read Barbara Cartland and Georgette Heyer) from having a heart attack over how sexy modern romances have become!

Natasha Moore fell in love with the written word as soon as she could read and began writing her own stores while still in grade school. Currently, she lives in western New York State with her very supportive husband – her real life hero who is happy to tell everyone that he's her inspiration. They travel in their RV whenever possible – the great thing about writing being she can take it anywhere.

Skylar Kade, self-avowed hedonist and princess extraordinaire, started her writing career after throwing aside yet another erotica she could not bring herself to finish. She resides in sunny southern California, alternately cursing the polluted air and adoring the often-perfect weather while she dreams up her next kinky adventure.

CB: Welcome, Ladies, and thanks for being our guests today on Petit Fours & Hot Tamales! Congratulations to you all on your upcoming releases.JI: Thanks, Carol, we're thrilled to be here!NM: Thanks, Carol. We’re looking forward to spending the day with you and your readers.

CB: Your covers are eye-catching, and it's obvious from them and reading the blurbs on your websites that there's a bondage theme here. Can you tell us about each of your stories? (Link title to online excerpt.)

JI:The Initiation of Isabellais a classic case of mistaken identity that lets my heroine experience some of her wildest sexual fantasies. Here's the premise: Isabella Tallin is trying to join the Sigma Iomega Nu sorority, and thinks she's waiting at the corner of Elm and Main for her mysterious initiation rite to begin. But she can't believe it involves a gorgeous guy in a hot red convertible and being bound, gagged, and blindfolded…or does it? In the end, Isabella finds herself happily initiated by a far different organization than she expected.

NM: Aren’t the covers absolutely gorgeous? In Bound by Design, Jenn spends her days crafting custom-designed slave jewelry, but she’s vowed to never wear a collar again. When she meets Scott, an architect with a dominant side, she’s forced to confront her submissive needs. They are both healing from past mistakes and must learn how to design a new relationship with the help of ropes and chains and a whole lot of trust.

SK: In my novella, (Maison Domine) the heroine, Lara Brunner, is overworked and needs a vacation from reality. After being coerced by her best friend, she finds herself discovering the world of submission at a BDSM retreat—along with her sexy trainer.

CB: They all sound great. I look forward to reading them. What can we expect from each of you in the future?

JI: This is my first Samhain release, but hopefully not my last!

NM: My next release will be November 1st from Red Sage. The Better to Eat You With is a fun little twisted take on the little Red Riding Hood story, featuring Grandma and the big bad Wolfe.

SK: I have a few projects in the works, as my muses keep waking me up with new ideas, but you can be sure that all will push the limits of eroticism. What the muse demands, I must give her (lol).

CB: Yay! Something to look forward to. :) Now that you're published authors, what advice would you give to those of us still working toward that goal?

JI: Just keep writing! Your craft improves with each story you write, so keep writing until you sell :) That's the only secret there is.

NM: Jenna’s right. Write until you finish a story. Then start another one. Find joy in the writing because that’s the only thing you have any control over.

SK: Decide what your writing goal is, and determine the most realistic way to reach it. Yes, all of us may like to be the next Nora Roberts, but setting smaller, more manageable goals—like being e-published—is not only fulfilling, but is progress in the right direction.

CB: I must say, you all have lovely websites. Did you have the same web presence before you sold or did you develop them afterward? If before, do you think it helped with your initial sale?

JI: Personally, I did not create a website until I sold. I really don't think it's necessary, though other writers might disagree. Having a website might give you a professional presence on the internet, but ultimately it's your work the editor/publisher buys, not your website presence.

NM: I did have my website up before I sold but I doubt it had any bearing on my first sale. However, with all the new things to think about after getting that first contract, it was nice to not have to worry about getting the website up and going too.

SK: I didn’t even have a web site until the sale of my first manuscript. Until I got The E-mail, being published seemed this tenuous dream, and doing promotion was not something for which I was ready.

CB: In my writing, I often find bits of my likes, dislikes and experiences creeping into the heroes and heroines I craft, sometimes without me realizing it. Has that ever happened to you?

JI: Absolutely! What's that advice we always hear -- write what you know! I've even given some of my heroines my personal habits, like biting my lip when I'm nervous :)

NM: Definitely. In fact, there’s a few scenes I’ve written that have been taken from real life (although embellished a bit) Those were done on purpose, other times I have to watch that I don’t have my heroine do what I would do in a certain situation, but remember to have her do what she would do – if that makes sense.

SK: Absolutely! I always find my less likable male characters picking up the annoying habits of ex-boyfriends. I think it is my subconscious way of subtle revenge.

CB: LOL, Skylar! I never thought about that aspect of it. Are any of you currently running any promotional contests that you'd like to tell our readers about?

JI, NM, SK: In keeping with the bondage theme, and to celebrate the release of our awesome Binding Ties anthology, we knew we couldn’t offer just any old prize for our readers! So anyone who joins our message-only Yahoo group, Binding Ties, will be eligible to win their very own bondage kit, complete with blindfold and wrist and ankle cuffs! Entrants will also receive occasional newsletters from us, to let you know what other sexy stories we have coming up! Just enter by sending an e-mail to: bindingties-subscribe@yahoogroups.com The contest will be open until October 29th.

CB: That's definitely not your average contest prize. Kudos for thinking out of the box, ladies, and thanks for answering my questions. I'm going to release you to our readers now and see what questions and comments they have for you.

JI, NM, SK: Thanks for having us. We look forward to talking with your readers.

19 comments:

Thank you so much for joining P4Ht today. Your books sound great. They are going to be added to my TBR stack.Jenna, I understand about your Mom. I love writing, but sometimes I think I would be embarassed for people I know to read my books. Maybe I need to come up with a diffent name.

Thank you all for blogging with us and sharing your experiences. I wish you all luck with your pending releases and your future careers. That Little Red Riding Hood book sounds very intriguing. Great covers.

Sally: For me, writing erotica stemmed not only from wanting to write what I read, but wanting a little bad girl rebellion from my real-life good girl persona. I figured this was more my style than tattoos, a Harley, and a biker boyfriend :P

Carol: The print version of BINDING TIES will be released July 2010. I'm just waiting to go see it on the shelf! Our stories were brought together by our amazing editor, Laurie Rauch, but we've done a great deal of collaboration since then for the release date. I must say, Natasha and Jenna are incredibly talented, and I feel privileged to work with them for my first release.

Maxine - That's what pseudonyms are for, to protect you from Mom :) I also write for Red Sage under a different name, but The Initiation Of Isabella is sexier than even the stuff I write for Red Sage!

Sally - Ironically, I wrote several other single-title stories (historicals, paranormals and contemporaries) but my erotic novella was the first one to sell. I still hope to get those others published!

Carol - Skylar answered your question already, but I just want to say that I'm thrilled to be part of Samhain's Binding Ties anthology, and I too think the covers are *gorgeous*!

Debbie-Since this is the first contest I've done (aside from giveaways as part of blog posts) I can't say with any certainty if contests drive traffic to a website. Our Bondage Kit giveaway as part of the Binding Ties anthology is being done thru a Yahoo group we authors have set up specifically for this contest :)

Amber - The Binding Ties anthology was a 'call for submissions' that Samhain put out in March. I submitted a story (and so did the other girls). We were the three lucky ones to be picked by Samhain, so I guess it was a happy accident!

This will be my first e-book experience, so I'm really curious to see how it does!

OOoh, I cannot WAIT to get my hands on this book! All the stories sound good, and I'm already a fan of Natasha Moore's stuff, so I know I'm getting wonderfully written stuff.Great interview, Carol! I'm off to pre-order this anthology.

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Petit Fours and Hot Tamales

Reading, Writing and Romance

Welcome to Petit Fours and Hot Tamales, a blog created by a group of writers and readers who live along the East Coast, from Georgia to Maryland. Our blog serves a selection of writing and reading styles to satisfy any palate, from sweet inspiration to hot and spicy and everything in between. We offer an eclectic mix of genres, ranging from historical romance and romantic suspense to young adult and women’s fiction.

We’re a group of friends who got together to share a bit of the writing knowledge we have learned over the years on the path to publication as well as our opinions on a slice of life.

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